Tigist Selam represented Ethiopia at The People's United Nations (pUN) performance art exhibition at the Queens Museum in New York on Saturday, November 23rd, 2013. (Courtesy photograph)
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Tuesday, November 26th, 2013
New York (TADIAS) — New York is by far the most diverse city in the world and nowhere is it more apparent than the borough of Queens where nearly 50 percent of the population is foreign-born and over 138 different languages are spoken. Organizers of the The People’s United Nations (pUN), a performance art exhibition held at the Queens Museum this past weekend, did not have to look far to find New Yorkers to represent each nation of the world and to debate world issues that politicians and diplomacy have failed to solve — from poverty to gender inequality, hunger, the environment and gun control. The idea is the brainchild of Mexican artist Pedro Reyes who staged the exhibition in the former building that housed the United Nations General Assembly from 1946-1950.
“One of the main differences between the pUN and the UN is that delegates at the UN represent their government,” Reyes told the Huffington Post. “And governments have an agenda which is first, their national interest; second, the interest of the their people; and third, the interest of the planet. In pUN, I think that the delegates are not concerned with representing their governments — they represent their nation-states, their people. It’s not the usual agenda. So they can take a stand with having a more global perspective.”
Reyes added: “But I don’t think pUN is in itself a critique of the UN. It’s more about the idea of making a crash course on conflict resolution. It’s like a tool kit. And the hope is that those who attend the summit learn techniques and learn about issues that affect us all. It’s a very intensive educational experience, but it’s also fun, no?”
The exhibition will be on view until March 30, 2014.
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Related:
Interview with artist Pedro Reyes (The Huffington Post)
A Local Place for a Global Neighborhood (The New York Times)
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